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LETTER 

HON. REVERDY JOHNSON, 

ox THE 

prot^nliiiflfj Et the pteding, 

HELD AT 

Maryland Institute, January 10th, 1861. 



Baltimore, January 11th, 1861. 
To the Hon. Reverdy Johnson: 

My Dear Sir: — These are perilous times, and, among others 
of our distinguished and respected citizens, you have assumed 
to offer your advice in regard to them. This is proper, and but 
a part discharge of the duty which you owe to the State of your 
birth. As one of your fellow-citizens I have, in common with 
thousands of others of them, to regret in what you had to say 
last night at the meeting at the Maryland Institute there was no 
plan for the composing of our diificulties suggested by yourself. 
You seem on that occasion, judging from the published report 
of your speech, to have fallen into the worn-out road of mere 
eulogy on the value of the Union, without in any manner, pro- 
posing any mode by which it can be reconstructed, it having 
been already disrupted. Entertaining for you a sincere respect, 
indeed, I may say a warm and habitual personal attachment, 
and having the utmost confidence in your love of your State, I 
deeply regret that you did not on that important occasion, which 
you are capable of doing, lift yourself above the mere rhetoric 
of the ordinary political declaimer and point out some plan of 
reconciliation for the adoption of those who value the Consti- 
TUTIO^^ which made the Union. I also regret, that before you 
undertook to enlighten your fellow-citizens as to the history of 
the country you had not better qualified yourself for the task, 
"by refreshing your memory by a reperusal of it. It is my pur- 
pose in this communication to recall to your recollection a few 
memorable facts which appear to have entirely escaped it. In 
doing this, my only purpose is, — in the hope that its ' fulfill- 
ment may do good in this trying crisis — to show that the con- 
duct recommended in the speeches delivered at the meeting to 
which I have referred, is almost identical with that pursued by 
the adherents of the Crown in the days of the revolution, and 
in direct opposition to that of the whigs of that period. 

In the eulogium which you thought proper to deliver on 
Massachusetts you say, and truly, that in the great struggle for 
independence the first blow was struck in that State. But you 
also say, that ^Hhe hones of her citizens almost literally ichitened the 
soil of every State, and the stripes and stars ichen in their hands 
were ever the certain pledge of victory or death J'' I suppose you 
mean by this statement to convey the idea, that her sons have 



iliirphv i. Co. Printers, Baltimore. 



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fallen in the contests for freedom and independence waged on 
the soil of almost all the States. If you do, then, sir, 3'ou are 
entirely without authority for the declaration. There is no his- 
tory that gives the slightest Avarrant for the assertion. On the 
contrary, all history, — as is the fact, — testifies that, not even a 
single company of soldiers ever left ^lassachusetts, or any of 
the other Kew England States, to fight the battles waged for 
independence on Southern soil. Kone of them ever proceeded 
farther South, in the great struggle of the Eevolution, than 
Long Island, and even there, the}^ were saved from utter 
destruction by the steadiness, skill and courage of the " old 
]\Iaryland Line,'' under the command of Genl. Smalhvood. The 
shame of treason, in the Avar of 1812, is indellibly stamped upon 
her forehead. You, sir, are old enough to recollect that, during 
the last war with Great Britain she refused to allow her troops 
to go beyond her own territorial limits, and that in her bosom 
was hatched the treasonable project, (treasonable because dui-ing 
war,) of separating the New England States from the rest of the 
confederacy and re-uniting them iciih ohl England. Moreover, 
that on the occasion of the annexation of that Texas which she 
is now so anxious to compel by force to remain in the L^nion, 
by her Legislature declared such annexation ipso facto dissolved 
the Union, and thrll Massachusetts was from that day out of the 
Union. All this, sir, you ought to have known ; and if you did 
know it, your eulogium of her at the expense of gallant States — 
you must pardon me for saying it — is wholly unjustifiable. 

Mere clap-trap declarations are to be expected i'rom the design- 
ing and weak, but are unbecoming a man of your gravity and 
well-established character for sound sense and patriotism. We 
ought not to be surprised that knaves who wish, for their own 
seltish purpose to mislead others less informed than themselves, 
or, that simpletons, who are incapable of understanding the 
importance of the prin-ciples involved in the present contro- 
versy, should indulge in frivolous objections to the present 
attitude of some of the Southern States; but, when a similar 
line of policy is ado])ted by those to whom Ave ha\'e a right to 
look for counsel and di)-ection in times of difficulty, Ave cannot 
but feel mortification and pain. 

The meeting at Avhich you performed your part has been held, 
and those Avho composed it are again dispersed among their fel- 
low-citizens. I beg to inquire of you, sir, hoAV it tended, in any 
Avay, to settle the present difficulties? It suggested no plan of 
adjustment. It neither recommended negotiation Avith, or the 
forcible coercion of the seceding States; I deiy any man, after 
he shall have read Avith tlie greatest care the proceedings, to say 
Avhat it is the meeting Avished to have done. Parlvriiiut moutes, 
nascitur redicnlus mus. True, it is, they distinctly enough de- 
clare devotion to the Union. But, the integrity of the Union 
has not only been threatened, but its ligaments have already 
been torn asunder and war declared, if, indeed, the slaughter has 
not actually begun, 

Bt tratisfo- 
JAN 21 190i? 



"What said the meeting on the all -important question, whether, 
with their consent and approval, Southern cities shouhl be dnnnJ. 
ished and conflagrated, and Southern homes made desolate hy the 
slaitr/hfer of fathers, and of brothers, their natural protectors ! 

Nothing! absolutely nothing! So far from there being any 
expression of a tender solicitude for, or the exhibition of a sym- 
pathetic apprehension for the safety of Southern fathers, of 
Southern matrons, maids and children, there was, touching these 
matters, a silence as profound as that of an Egyptian mummy. 
Unless, sir, I have greatly mistaken both your head and heart, 
you cannot cooll}^ and approvingly contemplate tlie massacre of 
our countrymen and the desolation of their firesides. And yet, 
your presence at, and participation in the proceedings of such a 
meeting, will be joyously hailed by every northern fanatic as 
another pledge given for the humiliation and subjurjation of 3'our 
southern brethren. If these people understand at all any part 
of the teachings of Jesus, it is His saying, that he who is not for 
us is against us; and rest assured, sir, that however contrary the 
fact may be, and however repugnant to your real sentiments it 
may be, your indorsation of the stereotyped resolutions of the 
meeting, as a panacea for the distressing ills Avhich afflict the 
country, will procure for you the approbation of the most rabid 
republican in the land. The " Republican" party, swollen with 
the consciousness of power, for the first time by them possessed, 
insolently scorn all thoughts of conciliation and peace, and in 
their arrogant demonstrations of warlike purposes, confidently 
point to those in the South who think they fulfill their whole 
duty to the common weal, and establish their claim to statesman- 
ship, by joining in ptens to the Union, as part and portion of the 
Hosts which are to subdue, into slavish submission, any south- 
ern State whose people are old-fashioned enough to think con- 
stitutional LIBERTY has a real and substantial value. 

This delusion, on their part, is the real and only difficulty in the 
way of a speedy and satisfactory adjustment. And it grieves me, 
sir, to know, that instead of the meeting at the Institute con- 
tributing in any wise to dispel the infatuation of these people, if 
it have any practicable effect at all, it will be to strengthen into 
conviction their present belief, that the people of j\Iaryland are 
with the North, and not with the South, and that as against the 
latter, they are ready to co-operate wiih the North in compel- 
ling, at the expense of both blood and treasure, a submission of 
the South to the yoke of a galling servitude. 

A most lamentable fatality appears to characterize, at this 
time, everything done by those in authority in Maryland. It 
was but the other day, in a manifesto issued by the Hon. Henry 
"Winter Davis to the voters of the fourth congressional district, 
that the ground was taken that Maryland had suffered no wrong 
at the hands of the North ! Has Mr. Davis forgotten tl)e murder, 
at the very portals of the halls of justice, of Mr. Kennedy, of 
Washington county, by a Pennsylvania mob, becau.se, and for 



no other reason, that he was in that State looking after a nin- 
away. Had the horrid details of the brutal murder, under the 
very eyes of the Governor of Pennsylvania, of Mr. Gorsuch, one of 
the most venerable of the citizens of Baltimore count}-, also es- 
caped his recollection ? Or, to speak of an event more recent, 
has his memory no trace of the case of Mr. Myers, of Carroll 
county, who was decoyed over the boundary line into Pennsyl- 
vania, tried for kidnapping, because he had reclaimed a runaway, 
convicted by an abolition jury, and who would now be in the 
penitentiary"^had not Governor Packer granted him a pardon? 
Such insensibility to the wrongs of Marylandere is in fit keep- 
ing with a proposition, at this time, from a representative of a 
southern constituency, to render their slave property of still less 
value, by requiring of them, after they shall have incun-ed the 
trouble, risk and cost of capture of a fugitive slave, to submit 
to the additional outlay, of a trial by jury, in the place whence 
he shall have escaped and to which he shall have been returned. 
This is demanding southern rights with a vengeance. 

But, sir, my purpose in addressing you on this occasion is, to 
point out in some degree, the similarity of the acts occurring at 
the dawn of the Kevolution with those of the present day. 

And here let me remind you, sir, that although the first strug- 
gle in the Kevolution was on the soil of Massachusetts, that at 
that time neither Maryland, nor South Carolina were joined in any 
union with her, nor were they under any legal obligation to 
assist her in her difficulties. Their commercial interests were 
in no way connected with hers, and they rested under no sense 
of favors bestowed by her, ior she had bestowed none on either 
of them. Whatever aid, therefore, they extended to her in her 
time of need, proceeded from that generous appreciation of the 
conduct of those who were struggling for their rights which 
had been outraged by special legislation of the British Parlia- 
ment. The interference of South Carolina in behalf of Massa- 
chusetts was manifestly against all her pecuniary interests; her 
interference was a pure, unseljish sacrifice, in the cause of 
human liberty. 

"When the tea, on which a duty had been imposed by Par- 
liament, was brought into the port of Boston, it was thrown 
overboard by a portion of its merchants and other })eople, dis- 
guised as Indians. The contemjiorary history of the event also 
informs us, that nearly all, if nut entirely all, of the merchants 
supposed to have participated in this (.taring achievement very 
soon thereafter "clandestinely" signed a petition, asking that 
they should not be punished for the act, and promising to pay 
the value of the tea, with the objectionable duty added. In the 
lapse of time, this performance has come to be considered, in all 
Plymouth Rock celebrations, as a wonderful aiVair, and when 
alluded ^o in a speech, never fails to add to the self-sufficiency 
of all genuine Bostonians. South Carolina, at the time it 
occurred, supposed the act to be one of heroism and sac li ace, 



and, accordingly, her magnanimous soul was moved to active 
sympathy for those who had performed it. She sent forth to 
Massachusetts, rice and other necessaries of life to sustain her in 
her need. She is repaid for her sympathy then, by Massachu- 
setts urging, the devastation of her hospitable homes and the 
massacre of her people now I 

You are, sir, I believe, a native of the ancient city of Annapo- 
lis. Into that place, in the year 1774, a vessel — the Peggy 
Stewart — brought a large quantity of tea "on which the owners 
of the vessel made haste to pay the duty." How, sir, did the 
people of that day treat this act of submission? Eecollect, sir, 
this was nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence 
had been made. The people regarded the act of the owners of 
the vessel, as likely to call in question the fidelity and honor of 
the Province; and ivilhont disgtu'sing themselves as Indians as 
was the case in Massachusetts, they compelled the owners of the 
vessel to ask forgiveness in the most humiliating language; nor 
did their resentment stop there; the penitent owners were 
required to go on board of the vessel, and, whilst her sails and 
colors were flying, in the presence of a large multitude, they 
themselves set fire to the packages of tea, all which, together 
with the vessel and every appurtenance thereof, was consumed. 
The manner in which was performed the two acts of burning 
the tea, illustrates what at that time was the difference between 
the tempers of the people of Maryland and Massachusetts; the 
one, open and above-board, the other indirect and unreliable. 

I am sure that if some of the " Union-savers" hereabouts, had 
been consulted on the occasion of the destruction of the Peggy 
Stewart, they would have advised a "masterly inactivity," and 
talked long and dolefully, of the power of Great Britain just as 
they do now, of the wonderful length of the border line of our 
State; but enough, for the present, of this. 

Of one thing there can be no doubt, and that is, that South 
Carolina has spoken in plain language, and in this particular, if 
in none other, her convention resembles the great congress of 
the colonies of 1774. At that time there were, as there ever 
will be, obstinate and short-sighted persons in authority, who 
could not see where laid the real cause of grievance of the 
colonies, and who thought the repeal of the stamp act would 
remove all cause of complaint, just as we have among us per- 
sons who think the repeal of the so-called personal liberty bills 
ought to satisfy the South. But Chatham lived in that day, 
and he clearly foresaw and predicted, that if the work of coer- 
cion was persevered in, the Crown would lose its brightest 
jewel. His counsels were disregarded, but his prediction was, 
to the everlasting regret and chagrin of his contemners, verified. 
His words on that occasion ought to be carefully weighed now, 
by those who so inconsiderately urge war on the people of the 
South. Speaking of the demand of the colonies, he said: 
" They do not ask you to repeal your laws as a favor ; they 



6 

claim it as a right, they demand it. They tell you thev will not 
submit to tliem ; and I tell you the acts must be repealed. But 
repeal will not satisfy this enlightened, spirited people. It is 
not repealing this or that act o^" parliament ; not the annihilation 
of a few shreds of parchment, that can restore America to your 
bosom. You must repeal her fears and resentments, and vou may 
then hope for her love and gratitude." The advice of this great 
man was unheeded, and whilst, to use the language of Burke, 
" the western horizon vet blazed with his descending glorv," 
ships and armies were sent to subjugate the colonies, just as is 
now proposed to be done in the case of South Carolina and 
other seceding States. 

South Carolina is now menaced by a military force in her 
harbor, and rash men clamor for its immediate and large in- 
crease, apparently regardless of the disastrous consequences 
which must inevitably follow such a proceeding. 

What was the language of that modern Solomon and pure 
patriot, Benjamin Franklin, when asked by Lord Howe as to 
the propriety of keeping a military force^ in the presence of 
Boston during the period of her discontent? I ask vou to 
ponder it well. " The army at Boston," said Franklin, who saw 
the imminent hazard of bloodshed, ''cannot possibly \o,siver any 
good pnir pose, and maybe mischievons. iV-o accommodation can be 
properly entered into by the Americans, while the bayonet is at 
their breast To have an agreement binding, all force should be 
withdrawn^ 

The case of Charleston now, is almost identical in its circum- 
stances with that of Boston in 1774. A niinistry, bloated with 
pride and arrogance of power, turned a deaf ear to his counsel of 
wisdom ; and, I much fear, unless persons of influence like your- 
self, endeavor to prevent it, our Federal authorities will follow 
the bad example set them by that headstrong and unwise gov- 
ernment. Nothing but the stern reality convinced the British 
ministry that the feeble, and as they foolishly supposed, cowardlv 
pc(i]ile of the colonies, could successfully resist the colossal power 
of England. Indeed, even among the colonists were to be found 
those, whose fears subdued their judgments, and cooled the ardor 
of their patriotism. It was asked, with an air of confidence, by 
some of them — "Are we ready for war? Are we a military 
people? Where are our stores, our soldiers, our generals, our 
money ? We are defenceless; yet we talk of war against one ot 
the most formidable nations in the world. It will be time enough 
to resort to measures of despair when every well-founded hope 
has vanished." 

It was f(U- that "Kinir amoiig men," PatrieU Henry, to answer 
questions like these, and ho did answer them as became the 
perils of the occasion, and the inspiration of his own great nature. 
"They tell us," said he, "that we are weak ; but shall we gather 
strength by irresolution? Wo are not weak. Three millions of 
people, armed in the holy cau.se of liberty, and in such a country, 



are invincible b_v any force Avhich our enemy can send against us. 
We shall not fight alone. A just God presides over the destinies 
of nations; and will raise up friends for us. The battle is not to 
the strong alone ; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." 
What was the result ? A just God did raise up armies for them. 
Then but three millions were in the whole country, while now, 
more than three times that number are in the Southern States, 
and among them hundreds and thousands of tested and approved 
proficiency in military science. Think you, sir, that such a 
people can be subjugated. As in the revolution, their fields 
may be devastated, their houses given to the devouring flames, 
and themselves driven to the swamps for shelter, but mistake it 
not, for as sure as there is a God in heaven, they will reappear 
in triumph under other Marion's, Sumter's and Pickens' to whom 
their sufferings will give rise. Whole hecatombs of lives may 
be sacrificed in the mad and wicked attempt to crush the South ; 
but never will that gallant people bow their necks to receive 
the badge of seridom. The only harvest to be reaped from a 
ruthless war on oiir brethren will be one of death, ill-will, dis- 
comfiture, and everlasting shame and dishonor. Unless all his- 
tory be delusive in its teachings, this will be so. 

if we are to judge by the doings at Washington, the Consti- 
tution, which ought to be the stij^reme law of the land, seems 
to have been rudely pushed aside, and in its stead has been 
erected an irresponsible Military Despotism, claiming the right 
to declare and wage war. If the people North, South, East or 
West, tamelv submit to such an overthrow of the Constitution, 
they will no longer be worth}^ of the name of freemen. 

And how is Maryland behaving under this accumulation of 
evils ? We are told to wait and watch ; to do nothing at pres- 
ent. For a long time we were urged to follov/' the lead of Vir- 
ginia. Well, Virginia is speaking, and with an unanimity and 
force that shov/s the fires of patriotism have not died out in the 
Old Dominion. But how was it in the times of the Eevolution ? 
Did Maryland wait on Virginia? No, sir, not at all. In regard 
to the proposed Congress of 1774, we are told by history, "that 
so universal was the zeal of her people, so rapid their organiza- 
tion, that their provincial convention met in Annapolis on the 
twentj^-second of June, and before any message had been re- 
ceived from Salem, they elected delegates to the Congress. With 
a modesty worthy of their courage, they apologized to Virginia 
for moving in advance ; pleading as their excuse the inferiority 
of their province in extent and numbers, so that less time was 
needed to ascertain its sentiments." And when, as is the case 
now, the then Governor refused to co-operate with the people, 
"they invited a voluntary ofi'ering, to the amount of ten thou- 
sand pounds, for the purchase of arms and ammunition ; and 
taking the sword out of the hands of the Governor, they elected 
their own officers to defend Massachusetts and themselves." Let 
the conduct of Marylanders of that day be contrasted with that 



of those of this. Look upon that picture, and then upon 
this. Hyperion to a Satyr. If Maryland is to exercise any 
influence whatever in restoring the Union, or in determining 
its destiny, she must speak and act ; and she can do neither 
efiectively, unless her people be organized under the forms of 
law, either in the Legislature or in sovereign convention. Al- 
though the task would be a very easy one, I have not thought 
it worth while to show, by reference to the history of the 
formation and adoption of the federal constitution, how utterly 
opposed your expressed views are to those of its framers and 
ablest advocates. But, in my opinion, any further discussion at 
this late day, o^ the mere abstract right of secession, would be 
just about as productive of an}-- useful purpose, as would be the 
discussion of the right of the American colonies in 1776 to se- 
cede, as they did, from a union with the mother country. The 
undeniable fact is, that several States have seceded, and it is 
equally certain that, in a few days, others of them will do like- 
wise. 

Let me, my dear sir, by that love which you cherish for tJie 
Union founded by our fathers, and your devotion to constitu- 
tional liberty, adjure you to employ, earnestly and at once, all 
3'-our powers to induce the federal government to withdraw its 
forces from the waters of South Carolina, and to commence the 
work of negotiation and reconciliation. Her people are our 
kith and kin — " all of one nature, of one substance bred" — and 
should not be dealt with as though they were aliens and ene- 
mies. And, if it be found on a foir experiment that we cannot 
live in friendship with each other, then, let us agree to part in 
peace. Let us not be unmindful that much of that renown and 
glory of which we are justly so proud, is due to the valor, 
patriotism, and wisdom of the sons of Carolina, exhibited in 
every era of our political existence. History has taken note of 
the fact, and no ebulition of passion can wipe out the record. 
The advice of Fuankljn should be now followed by the Presi- 
dent. It is exactly adapted to the present emergency. His 
declaration will be found as true and as full of wisdom now, as 
it was when made : — " Ao accommodation can he properly entered 
into while the bayonet is at the breast. To have an agreement bind- 
ing, all force should be wit/idraion.^^ He who claims to be wiser 
or more jiatriotic than Fi-anklin, may scolf at the suggestion, 
but you, I am sure, will give to it the consideration to which it 
justly entitle^l. I have written hastily, but at the same time 
feeling as ardent a love for the Uju'oji, and its preservation under 
the Constitution as you or an}"- other Marylandcr. 

With sin<-''i-.^ .'^toem, I am. 

Your friend and serv't, 

John C. Legrand. 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



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